1 arrested for abduction of girl from West Philly school

Philadelphia police arrested and charged Thursday a 19-year-old woman for abducting a 5-year-old girl from her elementary school last month.

Special Victims Unit Capt. John Darby said Christina Regusters, of Philadelphia, was charged with kidnapping, conspiracy, aggravated assault, rape and other offenses.

Police said Regusters was one of four people questioned Thursday who live in a home several blocks from Byrant Elementary School in West Philadelphia. The others were released, but Darby said the investigation is ongoing.

The girl was taken from her classroom Jan. 14 around 8 a.m. by a woman in a black burqa posing as the child’s mother, police said. The woman claimed she was coming to take the girl out to breakfast.

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Investigators believe the suspect and victim then walked a few blocks to a home where a man was waiting. The child was blindfolded, told to remove her clothes and put on a black, adult-sized T-shirt, and ordered to hide under a bed, authorities said.

The girl was dropped off at an Upper Darby playground about 18 hours later, police said. Nelson Mandela Myers, a passer-by, found the girl Jan. 15 around 4:40 a.m. as he was walking toward 69th Street Transportation Center to catch a train to work at his job in Norristown.

“I was about 10 minutes away from my house when I heard what sounded like a cat,” Nelson said last month. “I’m just glad I was there at the right time. I was on the other side of the street. What made me cross the street was her calls for help. The closer I got to the playground I could hear, ‘Help! Help!’

“I was shocked. I seen the little girl underneath the slide. She was the only one in there. I just held my arms out to her and picked her up.

“It was a crazy moment. She only had a long black T-shirt on that came down to her ankles. The T-shirt was wet. She said she was cold and somebody was chasing her and she ran. At that moment I called 911. I would wish someone would do that for me if my child was in that situation.”

Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said Friday that he was confident police would arrest the person responsible for the girl’s abduction, saying it was “just a matter of time.”

“Unfortunately, she apparently has gone through some very, very heinous and traumatic experiences as a result of being abducted,” Chitwood said.

Chitwood said he was at the Philadelphia City Council meeting Thursday to present proclamations to Myers and the girl’s family. He said he did not know Philadelphia police were about to make an arrest.

“They asked me to say a few words,” Chitwood said of the council meeting. “I talked about what a kind and compassionate man Mr. Myers is. ... My final remarks were, ‘Hopefully, the law enforcement can make an arrest soon.’”

Attorney Tom Kline, who represents the girl and her mother, said the child helped police identify the home where she was taken after being abducted.

“This brave, innocent, precious little girl was instrumental in leading police literally to the door of the crime,” Kline said. “She told them that there was a bird in the house. The bird became one of the many focal points of the investigation.”

Regusters worked at an after-school care program attended by the victim. An attorney for Regusters, W. Fred Harrison Jr., could not immediately be reached for comment by the Associated Press, but told a television station that Regusters had “no involvement” in the crime.

Kline added that the girl suffered “terrible, horrible injuries” and that the family was “grateful” for the arrest, but knows it is not the end of the criminal process.

“There is still more work to be done,” Kline said, noting there were additional people involved. “We are watching anxiously the next developments because this is not the end of the line.”